Top o’ the morning, laddies and lassies, and happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Well, if you’re going to partake in wearin’ o’ the green today, you could very well be able to get away with short sleeves. A broad and sprawling surface high-pressure mass is sitting across a swath of the country stretching from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains, and that means dry, fair weather for the next few days. Now that the snow has cleared off the ground and the amount of daylight has increased (the vernal equinox comes this Saturday), the old rule of thumb about the 850-mb temperature plus 13 C comes back into play. Right now that number sits at 3 C, which translates to 16 C or 61 F. Given that the “normal” high for this time of year is in the low 40s, we’re doing well. The question is, will it last? For the next few days, yes, though I can’t rule out our usual late-March snows yet.

Wednesday: Sunny and warm. High temperatures this afternoon ranging from the upper 50s to about 60.

Thursday: Low temperatures Thursday in the low 30s. Continued sunny, marginally cooler. Afternoon high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 50s.

Friday: Clouds move in overnight heading into Friday, resulting in warmer lows (upper 30s to around 40). Partly cloudy for Friday, with an afternoon high in the low 50s.

Astronomical spring comes this Saturday afternoon… more details then in the weekend outlook.